Specialty Camera Rigs

Specialty camera rigs in Australia split between locally-domiciled gyro and arm stock and cross-border imports for top builds.

Here is how this works in practice. Russian Arm Filmworks LA and Cinemoves ship Russian Arm and Performance Filmworks chase rigs in 14-hour direct Qantas LA-Sydney freight under Australian Border Force ATA carnet through DFAT — the same logistics chain that delivered chase coverage to Mad Max: Fury Road and Furiosa at Village Roadshow Studios Gold Coast.

Here is the short of it. Shotover Camera kits Queenstown NZ ships F1 and G1 six-axis gyro-stabilised sites in three Qantas hours from Auckland — Shotover dominates aerial cinematography across the southern hemisphere and ran coverage on Mission Impossible 2 (Sydney), Aquaman (Gold Coast), and Elvis (Mandy Walker ACS ASC). Cable-cam systems including Defy Dactylcam, Spidercam, and Cablecam Global deploy for stadium events and large open-set features. Cameraquip, Lemac, and Filmplus stock DJI Ronin 2, Freefly MoVI Pro / XL, and Tilta Nucleus-M for handheld and vehicle-mount stabilization.

Here is the breakdown. Aerial sites for Australian features run through Heliquip Sydney, Pacific Helicopters Queensland, Heli Lift Brisbane, Helitack Tasmania, and Helishine WA — Australian-domiciled rotary-wing operators carrying CASA-licensed helicopter mounts (Tyler Mount, Cineflex Elite, Shotover F1) for productions across NSW, Victoria, Queensland, and WA.

Here is what that looks like on the ground. CASA drone permits apply to every aerial drone build above 2kg, with no-fly zones around Sydney CBD, Melbourne CBD, Brisbane, Perth, and Indigenous-protected sites (Uluru, Kakadu, sacred Anangu and Yolŋu country). Fixed-wing aerial coverage runs via Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar private charter, Regional Express (Rex), and Sharp Airlines.

Here is how the picture comes together. Heritage productions running specialty rig work in Australia include Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa, Aquaman + Lost Kingdom, Thor: Ragnarok (Brisbane and Sydney), Mission Impossible 2 at Sydney Fox Studios, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales at Village Roadshow Gold Coast. ACT WHS Act, Safe Work Australia, and CASA Part 137 compliance covers every aerial and chase build.